Eidur Gudjohnsen revealed how close he was joining Real Madrid, before Barca’s move
Former Barcelona star Eidur Gudjohnsen revealed he came close to joining Real Madrid, before settling for Camp Nou move, in his interview with fourfourtwo.com.
Gudjohnsen, who made 112 appearances for Real’s arch rivals Barcelona, and won Champions League, La-Liga and Copa Del Rey during his time at the club, says he could have played for Los Blancos, with Real Madrid were the first team from the Spain to show interest in him.
Eidur Gudjohnsen revealed how close he was joining Real Madrid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Rqh9rs9Ek
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However, Real Madrid’s presidential election in 2006, halted his move to Spanish Capital.
“From what I was told at the time, they were at least interested.
“The first interest I heard from Spain was Real Madrid. But the club were going through their elections and didn’t have a coach, so I wondered how concrete the interest was. I had no idea then how things worked in Spain.
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“When Barcelona came in with everything in place, having just won the Champions League, I thought: ‘Let’s get this done – where do I sign?’ I’d heard whispers about Barcelona for a year, ever since we [Chelsea] had knocked them out of Europe.”
“I didn’t realise at the time that I was supposed to be replacing someone,” he says. “Then I realised we were both from Nordic countries and wore the same shirt number.
“I’d come off the bench and score the winner, but speak to the people in Barcelona and it’s like Henrik Larsson came off the bench and scored the winner in every match. That’s how they remember him, and I couldn’t get away from that comparison.
“Still, I didn’t feel pressure in replacing him – joining Barcelona was pressure enough.
“Our Chelsea training was at a high level but they took it up another few notches. No matter how hard you drilled a pass to a player, their touch was perfect. If you were on the side without the ball, you couldn’t get it back.”